• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.27-52
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• 2011

The regions of Central Asia have each acquired an elevated strategic importance in the new security paradigm of post-September 1lth. Comprised of five states, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, Central Asia's newly enhanced strategic importance stems from several other factors, ranging from trans-national threats posed by Islamic extremism, drug production and trafficking, to the geopolitical threats inherent in the region's location as a crossroads between Russia, Southwest Asia and China. Although the U.S. military presence in the region began before September 11th, the region became an important platform for the projection of U.S. military power against the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. The analysis goes on to warn that 'with US troops already in place to varying extents in Central Asian states, it becomes particularly important to understand the faultlines, geography, and other challenges this part of the world presents'. The Kyrgyz military remains an embryonic force with a weak chain of command, the ground force built to Cold War standards, and an almost total lack of air capabilities. Training, discipline and desertion - at over 10 per cent, the highest among the Central Asian republics - continue to present major problems for the creation of combat-effective armed forces. Kyrgyzstan has a declared policy of national defence and independence without the use of non-conventional weapons. Kyrgyzstan participates in the regional security structures, such as the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) but, in security matters at least, it is dependent upon Russian support. The armed forces are poorly trained and ill-equipped to fulfil an effective counter-insurgency or counter-terrorist role. The task of rebuilding is much bigger, and so are the stakes - the integrity and sovereignty of the Kyrgyz state. Only democratization, the fight against corruption, reforms in the military and educational sectors and strategic initiatives promoting internal economic integration and national cohesion hold the key to Kyrgyzstan's lasting future

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.273-300
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• 2018

In order to analyze the experience of women from the provinces settling in Seoul, the current study conducts in-depth interviews on seven women who are working in Seoul after coming up to Seoul to attend and graduate from university. The results of the interview were analyzed using grounded theory methodology, under which the open coding extracted one hundred ten concepts, twenty-one sub-categories, and eleven categories encompassing them all. Causal condition is 'difficulty of settling in Seoul' and contextual conditions are 'intensification of psychological anxiety', 'reduction in quality of life', and 'continuation of economic instability'. The central phenomenon is 'dilemma of continuing life in Seoul' and intervening condition is 'diagnosis of ten years after coming up to Seoul'. Action/interaction strategies are 'changes in personal life', 'securing economic abilities through a stable job', and 'finding ways to participate in the society', while the result was 'choosing whether to continue living in Seoul'. The paradigm of experience of women from the provinces settling in Seoul proceed from coming up to Seoul for university to becoming independent, adapting to life in the city, experiencing growth and failures, facing challenge and searching for solutions, and conducting self-evaluation and making new choices. The participants reported that they were aware of differences and experienced anxieties as a stranger in Seoul even after living in the city for ten years; the problems they face have become more complex and diverse since when they were in university, and while they launched a career and making money, the gap between them and their peers from Seoul has not closed. The women also express desperation that they may need to leave Seoul to find alternatives to problems caused by accumulated stress and social problems that cannot be solved by an individual. In conclusion, the current study confirmed that efforts by individuals can only have limited effects in helping women from the provinces to settle in Seoul, indicating that detailed policy plans are required to solve social issues in the overall Korean society.